


Captain Cowgirl Rides Again

by Ronoken



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Captain Cowgirl, F/M, Family Fluff, First fights are hard, Gen, Good Gramma Marinette, Good Parent Sabine Cheng, Good Parent Tom Dupain, Time Travel, What To Do, Ziggy is a gift, awesome fight scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28455501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ronoken/pseuds/Ronoken
Summary: A steel pole shot down and slammed into Gar-Doom’s back, knocking the akuma to the ground.“Forgive me for saying so, but I find it hard to believe you had a bad dining experience at that particular bakery,” a light-hearted voice called out.Caline watched, wide-eyed, as a sleek black superhero descended in front of the screaming, writhing monster.“Oh holy cow. That’s… That’s Chat Noir! The first one! Oh wow.” Caline was transfixed by the sight before her. She had heard stories about her grandpa, sat through endless debates between him and her Aunt Emmy about who wore it better, and of course she’d met Plagg before, but to actually see the legendary superhero in his prime?Chat Noir retracted his staff and gave it a twirl. “It looks like someone needs a pruning.”***When all of Paris is in trouble, only one hero can answer the call.She’s short, her staff is cute, and she’s not taking crap from any varmints.This will be fine.A stand-alone epilogue to the What To Do series of fics! Join Caline M. Bourgeois as she makes her dramatic hero debut!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois/Sabrina Raincomprix, Gina Agreste/Andre Bourgeois, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Comments: 26
Kudos: 55
Collections: The What To Do Series





	Captain Cowgirl Rides Again

In the far future…

Caline M. Bourgeois, age 10, frantically ran down a fourth-floor hallway in the Grand Pairs hotel. She breezed passed a frozen housekeeper and scooted around a stuffy old man in a hat that was stuck mid-step before she skidded to a stop in front of a door at the end of the hall.

“Okay,” Caline said to herself as she huffed from exhaustion. She put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She was dressed for the Fall, wearing jeans, sneakers, and a fluffy green sweater. Her sandy blonde hair was hanging loose to her shoulders.

Steel blue eyes looked to the room number on the door, 409. She reached into her pocket and took out a key ring. With slightly trembling hands, she flipped through her keys as her mother’s voice echoed in her head.

‘ _Remember_ ,’ her mother had warned her. Caline recalled the conversation vividly. _‘This key is only to be used in the event of an emergency. I’m serious, Callie-bear. You never, ever use this unless you have no other option.’_

Caline swallowed down her nerves as she held up an unassuming silver key.

“Am I gonna get in trouble for this, Ziggs?” Caline asked, nervously.

Ziggy, the black and white goat kwami, floated out of her pocket to stare at the key with her. “Whelp, I reckon things can’t get any worse right now. If I were you, I’d go for it.”

“…And you don’t think she’ll be mad?” Caline asked.

Ziggy chuckled. “Yer mom used to use time travel to hook up with her boyfriend. Kiddo, she ain’t got a freakin’ leg to stand on in this instance. You go for it.”

Caline blushed and nodded. “Right then.” She slid the key into the lock. It was the only door in the entire hotel that didn’t have a keycard pad, instead offering a keyhole that none of the cleaning staff had any access to. Most of them thought it was used for money laundering or drug running, or that it was possibly haunted. Regardless, _no one_ had access.

There was a good reason for that.

“Here we go,” Caline said as she opened the door and stepped forward into a white, glowing rectangle.

Behind her, the door swung shut with a click.

***

Caline blinked.

She was back in the hall.

“Huh,” she said as she looked around. “This doesn’t feel any different.”

Ziggy looked around and shrugged. “Maybe yer gramma don’t like to redecorate. Why don’t we head outside and get a move on? Can’t hurt anythin’.”

Caline frowned at the lazy kwami. “You know we have to be careful. We don’t…” She leaned in and whispered. “We don’t want to mess up the timeline.”

Ziggy shrugged. “Callie, you could march through that there door with a flame thrower and not do half the damage yer ma’s done. Trust me.”

Caline snickered, but only a little. After all, she was there on official hero business. And official heroes did not snicker.

It was true, her best friend Daisy had said so. Granted, she had been transformed into Lord Death Tiger at the time, and they had been playing Pirate Queens, but still.

“Focus, Ziggy. We need help, and mom always said that if I needed help, then this is where I’d find it.”

Ziggy looked around. “It looks like a hotel hallway,” he said.

“Well, like, not here-here. You know what mom meant. Come on,” Caline said as she headed to the stairwell. She’d played here enough to know the quickest way to the service entrance out back. And from there…

A few minutes later, Caline stood outside on the service dock and steadied herself. “Okay,” she said. “I can do this. I can totally do this.” She started to hyperventilate. Panicking, she scrambled for her inhaler. She didn’t need it often; only when she was feeling overwhelmed.

Like today, for example.

“Hey now,” Ziggy said. He put a hoof on her arm and looked up at her. “Don’t get all bent outta shape. Just focus, take some deep breaths, and believe in yourself. Y’all got this, partner.”

Caline looked down at him. “And I won’t get in trouble for using you?”

“Well, didja get in trouble when ya tried me out at home?”

Caline shook her head. “But that was the only time we ever transformed. And that was in my bedroom.” She looked up at the buildings around her. “This is real.”

“Hey,” Ziggy said, his voice soft. “Y’all been getting’ ready fer this since you were seven years old. I’ve been watchin’ over you, squirt, so I know. Yer every bit a member o’ yer family, and I am plumb honored to be assigned to another Caline.”

“For real?” Caline asked.

“You know it, partner.”

“But what if I mess up?” Caline asked. “Or, or what if something happens! What should I do, Ziggy?”

“Well,” Ziggy said as he rubbed his chin. “If something happens, you should handle it. Just remember all the times we played pretend. You’ll know what to do.”

“Well, okay, yeah. But how do I handle it? What do I do?”

Ziggy looked her in the eye. “The right thing, of course. Yer a hero, girlie. An’ today’s the day you discover it.”

“Really?” Caline asked.

“Really,” Ziggy said. “Like I said, y’all got this.”

“Yeah,” Caline said. She wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve and looked at the buildings around her again. “I got this.”

***

To her credit, Caline only crashed into a building once.

She was rotating between screaming in terror as she flew through the air with every launch of her Shepherd’s Staff and cringing as she effortlessly touched down on the rooftops of Paris. It took her roughly ten minutes to get her bearings, what with the combination of leaping and falling, and the pure adrenaline coursing through her veins, but she eventually got the hang of things. Now somewhat confident in her new abilities, she checked the GPS on her staff and turned towards her original destination.

The Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

She landed right at the front door and quickly retracted her staff. Around her, people stopped and stared. With a nervous laugh, Caline tipped her hat at them and headed inside.

You read that right.

Her plan was simple. Talk to/meet her great grandparents, casually ask if their daughter was around, deftly avoid any hero-related questions, and then beg for help.

It was only after she wandered through the front door that she realized how difficult that would be while still transformed, but hey, cut her some slack. It’s her first day.

Caline froze, wide-eyed as she realized her goof. She was about to come up with some frantic excuse/backstory as to why a hero was in the bakery, but then she realized that she didn’t need to.

In front of her were who she assumed were her great-grandparents, however they were currently ensnared in a sea of vines. The bakery looked like it had been taken over by an angry rainforest, and in the middle of it stood a green-skinned man in overalls and a straw hat. He was surrounded by vines that pulsed lazily with his movements, and he was yelling at the helpless couple.

“Foolish bakers!” The green man screamed. “I am Gar-Doom! If you don’t have any quality veggie-based treats for me, I’ve got a veggie-based _doom_ for you!”

The man, whom Caline assumed was her great-grandpa Tom, frantically mumbled something and tried to point to a display case, but he was too tangled in vines to really do much. Also, his mouth was a bit covered with foliage.

Caline quickly turned around and left the bakery as fast as she could. She bolted around the corner and slumped against a brick wall to hyperventilate.

“That’s an akuma!” She gasped. “Oh my God, that’s an actual akuma!” She was shaking so bad she started crying. “I’m not ready for this! I don’t know what to do! I don’t know what to _do!”_

The front doors of the bakery burst open as Gar-Doom was carried outside by a squirming mass of gigantic green vines. All around, people were running and screaming as the akuma flipped a car over and started laughing maniacally.

“Yes, YES! Run, foolish meat bags! Flee in fear from Gar-Doom!”

Caline watched, petrified. The akuma looked so _big_. He was right there, loud and violent and very real, and…

“I shouldn’t even _be_ here,” Caline whimpered. “I want my mom. This isn’t right! I just…”

A steel pole shot down and slammed into Gar-Doom’s back, knocking the akuma to the ground.

“Forgive me for saying so, but I find it hard to believe you had a bad dining experience at that particular bakery,” a light-hearted voice called out.

Caline watched, wide-eyed, as a sleek black superhero descended in front of the screaming, writhing monster.

“Oh holy cow. That’s… That’s Chat Noir! The first one! Oh wow.” Caline was transfixed by the sight before her. She had heard stories about her grandpa, sat through endless debates between him and her Aunt Emmy about who wore it better, and of _course_ she’d met Plagg before, but to actually see the legendary superhero in his prime?

Chat Noir retracted his staff and gave it a twirl. “It looks like someone needs a pruning.”

Chat Noir dodged a vine that swiped at his head. A second later, a yoyo cut through the air and sliced through the offending growth like a knife through butter.

“Let’s trim the gardening jokes back a bit, kitty. We’ve got work to do.”

If Caline was star-struck before, now she was positively reeling. Ladybug gracefully landed right next to her black-clad partner. She was smirking at the akuma and casually twirling her yoyo like it was a Tuesday at the park.

“Oh holy cow, she’s so confident!” Caline murmured. “Oh man.” Caline stared in amazement. “My grandparents were badass.”

Off to the side, safely tucked behind a parked car, Alya was busy recording the action and narrating on her phone.

“If you’re just joining us, a new akumatized villain has decided to attack the lunch hour crowd. This time, he’s targeted the Dupain-Cheng bakery! Renowned for their macaroons and quality service, it’s anybody’s guess what caused this customer to flip. But that’s okay, as Paris’s heroes are on the scene!” Alya looked up from her phone at Ladybug for a moment, her eyes shining.

“So cool,” the reporter murmured.

And of _course_ she’d seen Ladybug dozens, if not hundreds of times. And yes, she’s a hero herself, but there’s just something magical about seeing your idol out and about and kicking ass. So, forgive her if she was taking a sideline approach for the afternoon.

Also, Alya couldn’t film and fight at the same time, so there was that.

And there was the _other_ thing.

Honestly, once Nino figures out what she’s up to, he’s gonna flip his lid and probably hover near her for, like, a week. I mean, seriously? Who charges toward a giant tentacle monster to get some footage when they’re nine weeks pregna…

Oh snap. Getting ahead of myself. Sorry, not supposed to blab yet, but don’t worry. They’ll tell everyone at the barbecue this weekend.

Ladybug gave Gar-Doom a quick once over before nodding. “Right. I’m guessing the akuma is in his lunch sack.”

Chat Noir blinked and looked to his partner. “Seriously? You figured that out in five seconds. That’s… Wow.”

“It’s one of the many reasons you love me,” Ladybug shrugged and rolled out of the way as a vine slammed into the street where she had been standing. “He just burst out of a bakery. I’m guessing he didn’t like his order.”

Chat swatted a vine away and frowned. “Who wouldn’t like something from there? That’s the best bakery in town!”

Ladybug blushed as she dodged. “I think you’re biased.”

“So what if I am?” Chat bantered back. “The owner’s daughter is cute.”

Ladybug backflipped away from a series of vine spikes that peppered the road where she’d been standing. “Careful there. I hear she’s married.”

“If they’re so great, then where are the veggie snacks?” Gar-Doom hollered. “I mean, come on! It’s not that hard to offer a variety!”

Ladybug threw her yoyo at the demonic gardener. “It’s a bakery, you moron! _Everything_ in there is vegetarian!” She yelled at him.

“They serve buttercream!” Gar-Doom shrieked. “I’m vegan!”

Ladybug groaned. “Then ask for the veggie brownies or the vegan macaroons! Mr. Dupain always makes a batch! They’re right freaking there!”

“I wanted strawberry!” Gar-Doom whined. “All he’s got today is chocolate!”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Ladybug took aim and cracked Gar-Doom in the face with her yoyo. “Well, too bad!” She snapped.

Both heroes advanced on the crumpled akuma as he rubbed his face.

“Huh,” Chat Noir said with a smile. “This one was pretty easy.”

“I know, right?” Ladybug said as she reached for the bag at Gar-Doom’s side. “I don’t even think I broke a sweat. Say, are you free for the day?”

“I just got done early with work,” Chat said, smiling. “Where’s…?”

“With their Aunts,” Ladybug replied. “I needed the day to get some work done. Also, Cammy wanted a playdate with the girls, and since you were out goofing off…”

“Hey now,” Chat said, mock hurt in his voice. “I was out putting food on the table!”

“Really? Because last I checked, you were doing a charity shoot,” Ladybug reminded him. “To advertise for the local food pantry? For free? Remember?”

Chat blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh yeah. Um, sorry?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Don’t sweat it, kitty. It was really sweet of you. Now, let’s…”

Gar-doom suddenly blew a yellow cloud of pollen in both heroes faces.

“Ha!” The villain snickered. “Seriously? I can’t believe I was able to lure you in that easily! Enjoy my neurotoxin pollen, chumps!”

“LB?” Chat asked, his voice bordering on panic. “I, um, I can’t move!”

“Ne… Neither can I!” Ladybug said. She tried, but her body was completely locked up. They were both frozen on the spot.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gar-Doom said through a toothy grin. “Once I have your miraculous, you can get back to being the weak, worthless, squirming bags of meat you were when you got here. Of course, you won’t have your powers anymore…”

Caline blanched as she saw what was happening.

“NonononoNO! They’re not supposed to lose! They… They’re gonna…” Her eyes went wide. “They’re frozen.”

 _‘It’s happening again,’_ she thought.

She was shaking with fear. Her mind raced with images of her family, her friends, all of Paris frozen in place. The horror on their faces, the look of panic. The look on her mother’s face…

Almost without thinking, she grabbed the retracted staff at her belt and gave it a squeeze.

“No.”

She suddenly felt calm, as if a cold bucket of water had just washed away her shakes. She could practically feel her heartbeat in her ears.

“This isn’t happening again.”

Caline took a deep breath.

_‘The right thing, of course. Yer a hero, girlie. An’ today’s the day you discover it.’_

Caline felt Ziggy’s words wash over her. She clenched her fists and felt strong. She suddenly felt confident. More confident than she had ever felt in her life.

“This is just like when we’d play in my room,” she said, her voice even. “I can do this.”

She looked to the monster attacking her family.

“No one hurts my grandparents.”

Gar-Doom was reaching for Ladybug’s ears and leering at the shiny red jewelry. Ladybug could only watch in a cold panic as she begged him to stop.

“Not happening,” Gar-Doom muttered. “I can’t believe it was this easy! I…”

A pole rocketed through the air and slammed into the akuma’s chest.

Ladybug, still frozen, watched as the villain was launched off his feet and sent hurtling into the Dupain-Cheng’s glass storefront. The windowpanes shattered in an explosion of glittering shards as the akuma bounced off a cake display and crumpled on the tile floor beyond.

“What?” Ladybug asked, confused.

Chat Noir tried to shrug. “It wasn’t me,” he called out.

Gar-Doom scrambled to his feet and wearily stumbled out through the broken storefront. “Who did that? WHO DARES STRIKE GAR-DOOM?”

A breeze blew down the street. A plastic bag lazily tumbled by.

“That’d be me.”

Alya, shocked at this surprising turn of events, swung around to film the newest arrival. Standing in the middle of the street was a young girl, not even Ladybug’s height. She was sporting a pair of patterned leather boots, a white skintight suit, a lopsided belt, a black and white splotched vest, and atop her head, covering a pair of small horns, was a black and white Cattleman hat. Her bright, emerald eyes were slitted vertically, and her blonde hair moved with the breeze. Her thumbs were resting in her belt, and she had a piece of what looked like long grass in her mouth.

Upon closer inspection, it was a plastic straw.

 _‘Presentation matters!’_ Her Aunt Alix’s words echoed in her head.

“Yer gonna stop harassin’ these heroes, Mister,” the young girl said. Her voice was shaking, which didn’t help her forced drawl. “If ya don’t, I reckon I’m gonna have ta get rough. I reckon.”

“Did she just say reckon twice?” Chat Noir, still frozen, whispered.

“Quiet, you. Whoever she is, she’s obviously trying!” Ladybug, also still frozen, whispered back.

“Who the Hell are you?” the akumatized menace sneered.

The hero spit out the straw and reached for the staff at her hip. She extended it and gave it a twirl. The noon day sun glinted off her steel rod as she slammed it into the pavement in front of her.

“I’m Captain Cowgirl.”

Alya nearly dropped her phone. “Oh, my God! A new cow-themed hero has joined the battle!”

***

At that moment across town, Caline Bourgeois (senior) spit out her iced coffee as she watched the livestream footage on her phone.

“CHLOÉ!” She cried out.

“I’m busy babysitting,” the blonde replied from the next room.

“Someone new has Ziggy!”

A very round Chloé was at her side in an instant. She was holding a squirming one year old in her arms as a little girl of no more than five years old drifted into the room behind her, a Ladybug figurine in her hands. Following right behind her was a slightly taller girl with light red hair and blue eyes. A Queen Bee figurine was in her hands. The two had been playing heroes vs dinosaurs. The heroes were winning.

“Huh,” Chloé said. She adjusted baby Gina to rest on her hip as she looked at the phone in her mom’s hands. She then looked to the baby she was holding. “Well, that doesn’t look like you, does it?”

She looked back at the livestream. “Can you turn it up?”

Caline fumbled for the volume.

“…A new hero has appeared, and she’s… Yes! She just called herself Captain Cowgirl! The Captain appears to…”

Caline tried to listen to the rest of Alya’s broadcast, but she couldn’t hear anything over Chloé’s hysterical laughter.

***

Gar-Doom stared down the diminutive hero in front of him. Grinning, he let out a low chuckle. “You’re just a kid. Why don’t you run home to mommy and daddy before I go and do something permanent?”

Caline turned her head towards the frozen heroes and nodded slightly. “You mess with them,” she turned to glare at the akuma. “Ya answer to me, varmint.”

Side note. Caline had no clue what the heck a varmint was, but she’d heard Ziggy say the phrase enough during playtime that she felt confident she was using it correctly.

“Is that so?” Gar-Doom asked. A mass of green tentacles started to swirl around him as he was lifted off the street. Caline had to look up to keep eye contact. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, flesh bag, but if you don’t clear out of here right now, Hawkmoth is going to get three miraculous today.”

Caline felt herself start to shake from nerves, but she swallowed back her fear.

“Hawkmoth isn’t getting anything but a punch in the kisser if she, erm, he bothers to show his yellow face around here,” Caline snapped. “Now, ya’d better hand over that there pouch on your belt before I have to get rough with ya!”

“Man, she’s really leaning into the cowgirl thing,” Chat Noir, still frozen, said from the sidelines.

“It’s like seeing Ziggy as a human,” Ladybug agreed. “Hey, I think I can wiggle my fingers. Chat! The toxin is wearing off!”

“I know,” Chat said, grinning. “I can move my hand. I’ve been trying to flex and get my body to loosen up, and I think I can get to my staff.”

“Who would have thought all that flexing in front of the bathroom mirror would have paid off?” Ladybug quipped.

“It’s not my fault I’m so pleasant to look at,” Chat replied with a wink.

“Foolish child!” Gar-Doom said as he brought his arms up. Around him was a virtual forest of vines, all protruding from his back like the tentacles of some nightmarish octopus. “I gave you a chance to run, but you’re apparently too stupid to save your own hide! You think you can stop me? I am the gardening menace of Paris! I just took down the two mightiest heroes in town! I’m twice your size and have giant tentacles! And what do you have? A pretty staff and some dress up clothes? You think I’m scared of some little kid playing cowgirl?”

Caline lifted her staff slightly as she looked down at the street beneath her. She remembered a trick she’d seen her mother try once and how unbelievably cool it had been.

 _‘Please work,’_ she prayed.

“It’s _Captain_ Cowgirl, you overgrown weed!” Caline yelled back. “ _And my staff can be pretty if I want it to be!”_

With that, she slammed her staff down as hard as she could on the manhole cover at her feet.

“What?” Gar-Doom asked as the world went into slow motion.

The manhole cover flipped up like a coin from the impact. Caline spun with lightning speed and brought her staff around like a baseball bat. She cracked the manhole cover with all her might and sent if flying at the surprised akuma with the force of a cruise missile.

Thankfully, akumatizations provide superhuman strength and durability, otherwise young Caline would have accidentally performed her first decapitation. The manhole cover hit Gar-Doom in the face and sent him crashing through the brick façade of the bakery behind him, vines and all.

Caline stared, slack-jawed at the hole she’d made.

“Did I just do that?” She mumbled.

She nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ladybug standing beside her, smiling.

“You sure did, partner. Mind if we take it from here?”

Caline gave her head a small shake, her eyes the size of dinner plates. “You can do things,” she said.

“That I can,” Ladybug said as Chat Noir jumped through the hole. A moment later, he emerged with a bag in his hand.

“Hay, LB? You might wanna do the cure thing quick. This guy is looking a little, um, _bad_.”

He tossed the bag down to Ladybug, who ripped it apart. A quick swipe of her yoyo at the purple butterfly that emerged and one swarm later, and things were as good as new.

“So cool,” Caline muttered as the two older, taller heroes stood in front of her. She blinked as they extended their fists to her.

“Really?” Caline asked. She was nearly hopping up and down.

“Sure,” Ladybug said, smiling. “You totally saved our butts back there, newcomer.”

“You sure did,” Chat Noir said with a grin. “That was some fine shootin’, partner.”

Caline grinned and put her fist out with theirs.

“Pound it!”

***

Ten minutes later, the three heroes sat on the balcony of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, each with a complementary sweet and drink. Ladybug and Chat Noir had been hugged quite excessively by the owners, and then Caline felt the full force of said owners gratitude as they took turns complimenting her on her outfit and thanking her for freeing them.

“You were wonderful out there, dear,” Sabine said as she hugged Ladybug. “Are you okay? Did anyone get hurt?”

“We’re fine,” Ladybug said through a smile. She hugged Sabine back. “I’m just glad you two are okay.”

“You did great out there, son.” Tom was hugging Chat Noir and patting him on the back. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I, um, I really didn’t do that much,” Chat Noir said. He was blushing and hugging the gigantic man back.

“And who is this little hero?” Sabine asked. She turned to Caline and bent down to get a better look at her. Caline retreated a little to Ladybug’s side. “You really saved the day, didn’t you?”

Caline slipped her hand into Ladybug’s. Surprised, the red and black hero took it and gave her a gentle squeeze. “She’s new, apparently. This cowgirl just showed up out of the blue and got to work.”

Sabine stared at her for several seconds. “These silly magic masks always mess up the eyes, you know that? I’m sure she doesn’t have goat eyes in real life.” She glanced up at Ladybug. “Who’s her mother?”

Ladybug shrugged. “I honestly have never seen this one before.”

Tom leaned over to get a good look at her. “Well, she’s got your jaw, son.”

And such pretty blonde hair!” Sabine offered. She glanced up at Marinette and mouthed, “ _Camille_?”

Ladybug shrugged. “We were, um, we’re going to head up to the roof to debrief, if, um, that’s okay with you?”

“Of course!” Sabine said. “Here, take these with you!” She frantically handed Ladybug a bag of sweets.

“And some drinks!” Tom offered. He handed Chat Noir two steaming cups. “What would you like, Miss Cowgirl? Apple juice? Grape?”

Ladybug cleared her throat. “It’s _Captain_ Cowgirl, actually.”

The small hand she was holding gave her a squeeze as if to say thank you.

“My apologies,” Tom said with a smile. “What would you like, Captain?”

“I like apple,” the tiny hero said in a small voice.

“Here you go, then. One apple juice,” Tom said, smiling. He pulled a juice box out of a cooler from behind the counter and handed it to Caline.

“Thank you very much,” Caline said. “It’s, um, it’s really nice to meet you both.”

Sabine and Tom smiled at her. “Well,” Sabine said as Tom put an arm around her. “It was lovely to meet you, too. Thank you for saving our favorite heroes.”

Caline stared at the two of them for a moment. “You’re both so nice. This, um, thank you. This was, I wasn’t expecting you to… Thank you. This is really great.”

“Hey,” Ladybug said in a soft voice. “You wanna come up to the roof with us? Maybe see what snacks they put in that bag before Chat Noir eats them all?”

They glanced over at Chat Noir, who had already taken a pastry from the counter and shoved it in his mouth. “What?” He mumbled through the food. “I don’t eat enough.”

“You eat as many as you want, dear,” Sabine said. “You need to put some meat on you.”

“That’s not meat,” Ladybug said as she poked his tummy. “But you’re right, he could stand to gain a pound or two.”

“Mmmffmm.” Chat responded as he continued to chew.

***

“So,” Ladybug said as she took a bite from a cheese danish. She was sitting in her favorite pink and white patio chair and sipping a mocha. She’d insisted on leaving them behind when she moved out, as she still loved stopping by the balcony on patrols. “Forgive me for saying so, but you don’t look like the last person I gave Ziggy to. Is she okay?”

Caline blushed and took a bite of her dessert. She had picked a huge cherry danish and was devouring it with gusto. “Uh, yeah. She’s got another one, now. This is so good! Like, I’d heard stories, but… This is incredible!” She took another bite and looked to Ladybug. “This is so much better than mom makes! She never uses this much sugar. Thank you for this! And, um, yeah. Thank you.”

The two older heroes watched Caline with a look that the younger hero couldn’t quite place. It was somewhere between amusement, curiosity, pride, and love. It was something she was admittedly used to from these two.

“Captain Cowgirl, was it?” Chat Noir asked.

Caline nodded. “Yep.” She sipped her juice box.

Ladybug smiled at her. “You were really brave out there today. You handled yourself like a hero.”

Caline blushed and smiled. “Thanks. That, um, that was my first time, actually.”

Ladybug’s eyebrows went up at that. “Seriously? Well, you did a bang-up job. Our first time was a complete disaster.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Chat started. He saw the look on Ladybug’s face and deflated a bit. ‘Okay, yeah. It was pretty bad.”

“Your first time, you say?” Ladybug asked, a smile playing on her lips. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Caline shook her head no. She didn’t like to lie, and she honestly thought secret identities were kind of dumb. Especially when it came to family.

“No, ma’am. I’m from, um, later.”

“Thought so,” Chat said. He and Ladybug looked to each other and smiled. Chat crossed his arms and said, “So, how _did_ you get Ziggy, Camille?”

Caline nearly choked on her danish. She coughed for a second and then said, “Camille? Excuse me?”

Chat nodded. “It’s okay. You’re not the first time traveler to pop up with Ziggy.”

“Oh,” Caline said as she put two and two together. “Oh! You think… No, I’m not… Aunt Camille doesn’t use Ziggy, she has Barkk.”

Ladybug looked the younger hero over again. “Wait. _Aunt_ Camille?”

Caline nodded and wiped her hands on her tights.

Ladybug got up and approached Caline. She knelt down to look the tiny hero in the eyes.

“You know who we are, don’t you?” Ladybug asked.

Caline nodded again and bit her lip. “I, um, yes?” She looked from Ladybug to Chat Noir. “Is that okay?”

Ladybug thought about what Caline had said. “You weren’t expecting to get into a fight, were you?”

Caline shook her head no.

“But you came to the bakery looking for us?”

Caline nodded. “For you.”

Ladybug put a hand on the small hero’s shoulder. “What happened, sweetie?”

It had been a very big, very stressful day, and there was something about having your grandmother look you in the eye and speak in a kind voice that had an almost magical quality to it. Caline dropped her transformation and started to cry. She threw herself into Ladybug’s arms.

“Hey now, it’s okay,” Ladybug said, slightly surprised. The girl in her arms was shaking like a leaf.

Chat Noir knelt beside them and put a gentle hand on the young girl’s back. “You’re safe, love,” he said. “Whatever is the matter, we’ll help put it right. We promise.”

“They… They’re all frozen! All of them!” Caline blubbered. “Mom, dad, all, all the heroes… Everyone in Pa, Paris! I was, I was the only one who wa, who wasn’t…”

“Shhh,” Ladybug said. “Spots off.”

There was a flash of light, and Caline pulled back to look into the concerned, wide eyes of her grandmother. But it was wrong. Well, _different_ , at any rate. Her face wasn’t wrinkled, and her hair was a rich, navy blue… She looked so _young_ , but her smile was the same, and she smelled the same, and she was warm, and for a moment, Caline felt like she was home.

Caline let out a small, surprised laugh through her hiccupped tears. “Oh, wow. You, you look so pretty, Gramma.”

Marinette froze.

“Oh, my God,” Chat nearly whispered. “Claws in.”

Caline looked over at the young man kneeling beside her. “You both look so good!” She looked at Adrien for a second. “You don’t have your beard, Grandpa. This is so weird. I… I’m so sorry! I really didn’t know what else to do, but… But I was told if there was an emergency to come here, and, and I know I’m not supposed to use the door, but there wasn’t anyone left and…” She wiped her eyes. “Am I in trouble?”

Marinette pulled the young girl into a hug. “Of course you’re not, sweetheart.” She looked to Adrien, who was doing his best not to panic. He was also rubbing at his chin.

“Hey,” Marinette said as she pulled back to look Caline in the eyes. “Do you know the rules about time travel?”

Caline shook her head. “Only that I’m not supposed to do it, or Aunt Alix gets really mad.”

Marinette snickered. “Well, one of the big ones is to not reveal too much about the future, okay? I need you to tell us what happened, but when you do, try not to spill to much future stuff. Don’t tell us anything other than what we need to know. Can you do that for us?”

Caline nodded. “I can do that. Um, so, uh, I was playing in my room, and there was an akuma alert, and mom and dad said they’d be right back. I was watching the fight on my phone, and then there was this huge flash of light, and everyone froze.” Caline shuddered. “Everyone. Like, the whole city.”

Adrien frowned. “How come you didn’t get frozen?”

“Mom and dad said my room has magic shields that protect it from akumas and magic and stuff,” Caline said. “They said it was just built like that.”

“Don’t tell anymore than that,” Marinette said. “Okay, so you were in a shelter of some kind. That was clever thinking on your parents’ part to make your bedroom so safe.”

“It was mom’s bedroom,” Caline offered.

Marinette looked to Adrien. “Wanna tell me something about the apartment?”

Adrien shrugged. “Look, Chloé did a ton of stuff when we moved in. Maybe she shielded it?”

Marinette turned to Caline. “Sweetie, do you remember anything about the akuma they were facing? Anything that might help figure out what happened?”

Caline nodded. “He called himself Stopwatch. I think when mom broke this clock thing on his chest, it, um, exploded? And that caused, um, everything. I think.”

Marinette glanced to Ziggy, who was floating beside Caline. “Anything you want to add, Ziggy?”

“Mistress,” Ziggy said with a mid-air bow. “Might I say you are lookin’ plumb lovely.”

“Thank you,” Marinette sighed. “Ziggy, the akuma?”

Ziggy nodded. “Right. So, from what I could see on the magic talky glass, he was all defeated and such, but then he said somethin’ ta honk off yer daughter, and she landed a good hit right on his chest and from what I could gather, that’s when things went south.”

Caline looked to Marinette, her face a picture of worry. “Can you help?”

Marinette bit her lip as she thought. “I think so. Had… Was I… Huh. Was Ladybug there?”

Caline blinked. “Well, um, yeah. I just said… Yeah, she was there.”

“Had she thrown her lucky charm?”

Caline nodded. “I think so. I something on the live feed. I think it was a pair of scissors?”

Marinette allowed herself a small smile. “Right. How did you get here, sweetie?”

“The door at the hotel.” Caline leaned in. She cupped her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, “the secret one.”

Marinette looked to Adrien. “Do you know anything about a secret door?”

Adrien shrugged. “Chloé never mentioned anything to me about one.”

“Huh,” Marinette said. “Would you mind showing me the door?”

Caline nodded. “I can do that.”

***

When they arrived at the Grand Paris, they were met with a flurry of questions. Caline Jr. was stunned as she looked around at everyone, and everyone in turn kept eyeing her.

It didn’t help that all three of them were transformed.

“Can I play with your staff?” Emmy asked, wide-eyed.

“How come you’re a cowboy?” Camille asked.

“She’s a cowgirl,” Emmy said.

“Wanna see my room?” Camille asked. “We’ve got dinosaurs.”

Caline just stared at the younger version of her family. She wanted to speak up, but she was terrified of spilling more than she was supposed to.

“You are so adorable!” Sabrina gushed. She had taken off work early to come up and meet the new hero.

“Ziggy, huh?” Chloé asked, smirking. She handed a fussy baby Gina to Chat Noir. “Here you go. This one needs changing.”

Chat frowned. “Ugh. You’re right.” He held his daughter on his hip. “Girls, give the Captain a little space, would you? She just got here.”

“Hey, kiddo.” Caline (senior) knelt in front of the shy hero. “You really leaned into the role, didn’t you?”

Captain Cowgirl looked at the redheaded woman with wide eyes. She recognized everyone present, except for this newcomer. Still, thanks to Ziggy’ stories and the pictures in everyone’s homes, she instantly knew who she was. “Are you Ms. Bourgeois?”

Caline smiled. “That I am. Pleased to meet you, Captain.”

Caline junior swallowed. “I, um, Ziggy told me about you and how cool you were. I, um, I made this from the stories he told.” She looked to the older redhead. “Is that okay?”

Caline smiled and felt herself tearing up. “I think it’s perfect, sweetheart. You wear the suit well. Do… Am I allowed to ask if I know you?”

Caline junior shuffled her feet. “We, um, I…”

Caline, while not the instant connect-the-dots master Marinette was, had been exposed to enough awkward time travel nonsense that she was starting to put things together. “Are we, um, are we related?”

“Caline,” Ladybug said. “You shouldn’t ask that.”

Caline senior sighed. “Fine, fine.” She looked to the small hero again and thought about it but didn’t say anything more.

Chloé leaned towards Ladybug and whispered, “I take back everything I ever said about Ziggy. This is comedy gold.” She spoke up. “Can I get a shot of the two of you? I’d like to have a picture of both Captains.”

Caline senior shot her daughter a withering look before sighing and dropping to one knee. “Come here, partner,” Caline said as she patted her leg.

Caline junior looked to Ladybug, who smiled and nodded. “If you want to, it’s fine.”

Caline junior shuffled over and sat on the older woman’s knee as Chloé took out her phone and snapped a quick picture. “Perfect,” the blonde said, still smirking.

“So,” Ladybug said in her business voice. “We actually came by for work reasons. The Captain here needed my help with something and said the hotel had a, um, secret door?”

Caline junior nodded.

“What secret door?” Chloé asked, confused.

“NOPE,” A voice yelled from behind them. The group jumped and turned to see the adult Bunnyx standing there. She had a frown on her face and her arms were crossed. Marinette noted that her hair had some gray in it, and her mask looked like it was covering some lines.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Ladybug said.

“It took me a bit, what with the timeline turning itself inside out,” Bunnyx said with a chuff. She glanced down at Caline junior. “Captain. Care to tell me what you’re doing here?”

The small hero shuffled back to Marinette’s side. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“She really came through for us today,” Ladybug said. “And from the sound of it, something big happened where she came from. Where were you?”

Bunnyx let out a small sigh. “Trying to fix things, but then someone did a hopscotch back in time and I’ve been trying to track her instead of cleaning up what happened.”

“I’m sorry,” Caline junior said. “I didn’t mean to do anything bad.”

Bunnyx rolled her eyes and messed up the young girl’s hair. “I get it. You’re not in trouble, kiddo. I just wish you’d waited, like, five more minutes.”

“So, is everything fixed?” Ladybug asked. “Can she go home?”

Bunnyx looked to Ladybug. “What, like, fixed back in her time? Hell no. That era is stuck.” She eyed Ladybug. “We need a Ladybug to fix things.”

Ladybug smiled. “Well then, I think you’re in luck.”

“Can I come?” Chat Noir asked.

Bunnyx answered before Ladybug could. “You need to get your kids home before five.”

“Why before five?” Chat Noir asked.

“Because, um, I’m coming by with an offer to babysit so you two can go out to dinner?”

“You are?” Ladybug asked, confused.

“You are?” Chat Noir asked, a small smile growing on his face.

“Yep,” Bunnyx said with a nod. “One sec.” She slid out her pocket watch and opened it. The group watched as she frantically typed something on a holoscreen.

“Yep!” Bunnyx said as she quickly closed the watch. “This time’s me will be there by five, so, um, go freshen up. Please. Now.”

Chat Noir sighed and nodded. “I get it. Come on, you two. Let’s get you home.” He looked to Chloé. “Were they good?”

Chloé nodded. “They were fine. They’re always fine.”

Chat Noir glanced at Chloé’s very round belly. “You good?”

“I’m here,” Chloé said. “Another two weeks, and I can lay down again.”

Bunnyx snorted.

“What?” Chloé asked. The annoyance in her voice was clear.

“Try three and a half,” Bunnyx said.

“WHAT?” Chloé snapped. A grinning Sabrina took her hand as Chloé fumed. “He’s going to be late? That’s…”

“Ridiculous,” Bunnyx finished. “Come on, you two.” She looked to the two waiting heroes as she opened a portal. “We’ve got a city to save.”

***

When the three heroes arrived in the future, Ladybug was a bit unsettled. Everything was quiet. More than that, it was _still_.

She shuddered. “This is slightly familiar.”

“Sorry,” Bunnyx said. “It’s why I didn’t want Adrien to come. I figured you’d associate this with the whole Chat Blanc thing. I didn’t think you’d be comfortable with, well…”

Ladybug put her hand on Bunnyx’s shoulder. “Thanks, Alix. I appreciate it.”

They walked a short distance to the Louvre, Caline’s hand firmly planted in Ladybug’s. When they got there, all three heroes took a moment to register the sight in front of them.

The heroes of Paris were stuck, some of them in midair, and all were pointed towards what looked like a green and purple man. He was tied up in a thin, black cord that was being held by what looked like Ladybug, who was stuck, mid-punch, with her fist shattering what looked like a giant clock on the colorful man’s chest.

Marinette drifted past the heroes that were present. Some of them looked extremely familiar, while others were brand new to her. She did her best to block them out, as the less she knew about it, the better. Instead, she focused on Ladybug.

Marinette put her hand to the young woman’s cheek. This ladybug’s uniform was inverted from hers, black with red spots. Also, she was wearing a red jacket, complete with metal shoulder clasps.

Marinette looked into a set of familiar green eyes that were peeking through a mask that was slightly covered by a mop of short, brown hair.

“Can you help her?” Caline asked. “Can you help my mom?”

Marinette leaned forward and kissed the frozen, scared-looking young woman on the forehead. “I’m going to, sweetie. I promise.” She looked down and saw a pair of scissors on the woman’s hip.

“I’m guessing you understood the charm?” Bunnyx asked.

Ladybug nodded. “Sewing scissors. I figured.” She looked to Bunnyx. “I was _supposed_ to get a visitor today, wasn’t I?”

“Not saying one way or the other,” Bunnyx replied.

Ladybug just smirked as she threw the scissors into the air. A massive wave of Ladybugs washed over the city, and suddenly, everything was moving again.

The group faltered as time started back up. A flurry of “what just happened?” “Did we just die?” And “Don’t do that!” screams all echoed around the courtyard.

Gina blinked as she stood in front of a restored security guard. “Um, did… Did I just cure you?”

“MOM!”

Gina, still surprised, barely caught the black and white blur that was her daughter as she was nearly tackled. “I thought I’d never see you again!” Caline sobbed.

“Ca, er, um, hey. What are you talking about?” Gina asked, bewildered. She picked up her daughter and hugged her. “What do you mean you…”

Gina glanced past the group for one second as a white light caught her eye. It was only for a moment, but she saw a familiar red and black hero smile and wave at her just before disappearing into a white portal.

“Was that…?” Gina half-whispered as Caline hugged her tighter. She glanced at her little girl. “What did you do today, sweetie?”

Caline looked to her mother and smiled. “I got to meet a whole bunch of people, and I saw Gramma and Grandpa, and, and I had my first fight. And I won! And… And I used the key. I’m sorry.”

Gina smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead. “Well, if what I think happened just happened, you’ve got nothing to apologize about.”

Beside them, a yellow and black bee-themed hero stepped up and gave them a hug. “What’s this little one doing out here?”

“I think,” Gina said as she glanced to where the portal had been. “She just saved Paris. And us.”

“Well now,” Yellowjacket said, smiling. “What do we call you, Miss hero?”

Caline looked at her parents and smiled. “Y’all can call me Captain Cowgirl.” She tipped her hat.

André sputtered and buried his face in his wife’s shoulder. Gina started elbowing him while doing her best not to bust up. “Stop it. Stop it! You’re gonna make me drop her!”

“We, um, we need to call Gramma Chloé tonight,” André said. “Better yet, let’s swing by and visit. This is just perfect.”

“You’re terrible,” Gina scolded him. “And I agree.”

Caline laughed and hugged her parents as they did their best not to break down in laughter.

***

That night, after dinner, a visit to the Grand Paris, and so, so many pictures, Caline nestled in her bed as her parents kissed her goodnight and quietly shut the door to her room.

“Hey, Ziggy?” Caline whispered.

“Ma’am,” Ziggy said from his small pillow.

“Thanks for today,” Caline said.

“Aw, shucks. I didn’t do anything. Y’all were the one who took out that varmint. I just provided the wardrobe.”

“You told me I could do it,” Caline said.

“Yeah, well, you _did_ do it,” Ziggy said. “I ain’t never had a holder as young as you are, but I’ll tell you what; I ain’t never had one as brave as you, either. It took real courage to make that call and go back in time, and it took even more to face down that dumb ole’ plant guy. Yer every bit yer parent’s kid, and every bit yer namesake in courage.”

Caline smiled at that. “Thanks Ziggy.” She scooted to the small goat creature and smiled. “You did good.”

Ziggy started to tear up. “I… I did?” In a small voice, he asked. “Y’all… You think I’m good?”

“You’re the best kwami in the whole wide world,” Caline said. She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.

Ziggy blushed and made a small circle with his foot in the sheets. “Aw, shucks, ma’am.” He choked a bit on his words. T’weren’t nothin’.”

Caline settled in, her eyes on Ziggy. “Hey, can you tell me a story about her?”

“Shucks,” Ziggy said. “Which one do you want ta hear?”

“You pick,” Caline said as she yawned.

Ziggy leaned back and rubbed his chin. “Okay then. Well, there was this one time? A huge apartment buildin’ had caught fire. Anyway, yer Gramma Chloé had already charged over, but ole’ Caline, she just knew that yer Gramma needed help. So, she goes ta get me from the restroom dungeon, and then like lightnin’ she charged right over and into the fire.”

Ziggy glanced over at Caline, who was already asleep. Smiling, he leaned back against his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

“Anyway, ole’ Caline bursts in like a tornado and gets straight ta work. She just scooped up that Gramma o’ yours and this little gal that was hidin’, and like a comet, she just burst outta the building right as it was comin’ down. She plumb saved both their lives that night, just as neat as ya please. Course, that was all in a day’s work fer her. On a count of her bein’ a hero, that is.”

Ziggy glanced over and heard soft snores coming from his charge. He floated over and made sure her covers were pulled up to her chin.

“She was a right fine hero, just like you.” He floated up and kissed her on the forehead.

He then glanced to the careworn reading chair at Caline’s bedside.

For a moment, he paused.

He then smiled at the seemingly empty space.

“It’s one o’ my favorite stories, too,” he whispered.

He stared for a moment, and then smiled.

“Sweet dreams, Miss Caline.” Ziggy said in the quiet darkness of the room. “You rest easy. I’ll keep watch.” He settled against Caline.

“I promise,” he said to the quiet dark of the room.

“On my honor. I’ll keep her safe, ma’am.”

While the future is never set, Ziggy knew that come what may, he would do his very best for the young girl sleeping beside him. He knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe, and that he would never stop working to earn her trust.

She was his holder, and she had said he was good.

She said he was the best.

And coming from Captain Cowgirl, that meant the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I know I keep saying I’m done. Sue me. This felt too big to be a Good Life chapter, even though it started like that. Plus… Eh. Maybe there’ll be more? Dunno yet.
> 
> Comments are welcome. Also, I’d love to see your best Captain Cowgirl fanart.
> 
> I mean, this might be her only story, so give her some love, folks.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr! I post fic snippets there, first.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you soon, kiddos.


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